Shine Like Gold
by karlaakamsloki
Summary: Darcy tired of Loki's temper tantrums sets to show Loki a different kind of Earth.


"_Do you really wonder why I hate this place so much Thor? It has nothing to offer but dirt and disease."_

Darcy didn't know what it was; maybe it was the piling insults on her home planet, that just kept on coming no matter how many times any of them attempted to shut him up. Maybe it was the way Loki said it, all anger and disgust with no small amount of annoyance at anything human and unlike him.

There were many reasons why Darcy finally snapped at the God of mischief, none of them any less important than the others, though Jane would remind her later that screaming and manhandling Loki were by far one of her worst ideas.

While the brothers continued to fight Darcy shoved the papers she was working on into her school bag and shoved them at Jane, who was absentmindedly twirling her coffee with her finger. Jane gave a small yelp when Darcy let the bag fall on her desk but Darcy gave her no mind and walked towards the brothers who by now were trying to retreat from each other, well Thor mostly was trying to retreat and Darcy mentally gave him a high five for being the mature brother.

She stood in between the brothers well aware of Loki's growing temper tantrum which would cumulate in him trying to blow something up with his magic, only to remember that Odin had taken his magic in which case he would sulk back to the small trailer Jane had purchased for the brothers and not be seen for days.

Darcy liked to call him God of sulks and temper tantrums in her head because she was sure he had created both.

"You will stop." She said when she saw Loki heading for the building's door and because Loki had never heard her use a tone besides sarcastic, he stopped.

"I bed your pardon?" There was no politeness in his tone, just disbelieve.

"You and I, we're going for a drive." Saying so she picked up the van's keys and opened the door for Loki to pass through.

Jane stood up and wildly waved her hands on Darcy's side but Darcy was too busy having a staring contest with Loki to pay attention to anything around her, she faintly heard the thunderous footsteps that signal Thor had gotten over the shock of seeing Darcy ordered anyone around, much less his brother, to put a hand on Loki's shoulder.

"No." Loki waved his brother's hand from his shoulder, breaking his staring contest with Darcy to glare at his brother. Darcy took note of the way Thor's shoulders slumped and she renewed her efforts to show Loki he was being an asshole.

"Loki go outside and get in the van." She spoke quietly hoping Jane wouldn't take notice of how pissed off she really was.

Loki gave her a look of pure hatred before he tried to walk around Thor to head back inside but Darcy was a step ahead of him and grabbed his arm and squeezed. Loki stopped and so did Jane and Thor.

Darcy knew they made a weird picture, all standing in front of the door in pure shock of her actions because while Loki had been vanished she had only spoken to him a handful of times and those were far in between and only when necessary.

Just because he had been renounced of his godhood did not make him any less crazy and dangerous.

"Let me go mortal." He hissed at her and she wondered if they both lower their voices the angrier they got then very soon they would be reduced to glares.

Changing dynamics and knowing Loki wouldn't hurt her in front of Thor, she pulled on his arm and felt as the muscle underneath flex but didn't move. He was facing away from her and without letting go of his arm she walked to face him and even with the height difference she felt imposing.

"You will get in the van and shut your mouth while I drive and then when I show you what I have to show you, we can come back here and I will never speak to you again." No longer a whisper and more of a raised voice because no one could tell her not to yell at the goddamn idiot in front of her, not even his brother.

Loki gave her an unnerving look and without warning she joined their faces and mouths practically touching she opened her mouth and screamed:

"GET IN THE VAN! NOW!"

There was moment of surprise for Darcy when she saw him lose the look of anger only to replace it with indifference before shaking her digging fingers out of his arm and walking outside and climbing loudly into the van.

"Well this is new." She told herself silently before turning around and giving the shock couple a wave of goodbye. "We'll be back before dinner, promise."

She was almost to the van when Jane burst out the door with Darcy's purse in her hand.

"You might need it, be careful." Darcy gave her a tight smile before climbing into the van next to a sulking Loki.

She eyed him for a second before realizing he wasn't going to let go of his sulk for a while because Loki didn't do anything half assed, even sulking.

Once on the road she regretted her decision immediately because she had obviously not been thinking straight and they still had two more hours to go before they made it to their destination.

She fidgeted with the never working radio before giving up and looking for her iPod with one hand while trying to keep an eye on the road. She heard a tsk from the passenger seat and she clenched her jaw trying to avoid saying something she would regret, well more than she already had anyway.

"Eyes on the road mortal lest we both get killed." Loki gave her a bland look before looking out the window again, on purpose Darcy swerved the car and watched in amusement as Loki unfolded his arms from his chest to grab onto something.

"What in Asgard's name is wrong with you?" She laughed because of the perplexed look on his face.

"Don't know, jury's still out."

She gave a 'aha' in triumph when she found her iPod and the mini speakers she kept in her humongous purse, the speakers went over the console and the iPod went to a bemused Loki who didn't know quite how to handle it.

"There's a playlist there that's called road trip, be a dear and find it for me." She trusted he wouldn't break it, not with the possibility of having Darcy talk to Thor and getting a lecture in 'those don't belong to you Loki, give them back'.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I guess we could pass the time talking or something, you ever played I spy before?"

"Very well then."

It wasn't long before Loki had found the play list and she was bobbing her head to Katy Perry.

She refused to look at Loki and continued to sing at the top of her lungs all while making sure the van lost the road once in a while and giving him a sheepish look before getting back on the road.

Loki did not look amused.

There wasn't much talking the next two hours only pop songs which were her guilty pleasure and an silent Loki to her side, before long she left the road and turned on the dirt itself. Loki didn't say anything for a moment but when it became obvious she was driving away from the road and into the desert he tentatively put his hand on her shoulder, calling her attention.

"Do you require your spectacles?"

"Nope, I only wear those for reading." Darcy turned to give him a look of amusement before shaking her head at him.

"Then where might we be going?" She felt his hand drop but didn't answer his question and just continued driving until she hit a small cave like structure.

She turned off the car and her iPod before leaving the van and waiting for Loki in the front of it. Loki gave her a puzzled look but she simply started walking to the small, but big enough to fit her and Loki through, opening of the cave.

"Are you implying we go in there?" Loki looked skeptical and took a step forward when Darcy made for the small entrance as if to protect her from herself.

"Yeah in there, come on prince of Asgard, I know you're seen worse than a cave or maybe is that you're a chicken." She gave him a mock look of outrage before turning on her heel and entering the small mouth of the cave carefully, knowing Loki couldn't resist an invitation for a fight for his courage and manliness and would follow her.

The small walk inside was awkward with the small tunnel leading inside the cave being so small and cramped but there was enough natural light that she didn't need a flashlight and enough space she didn't feel like she was suffocating.

Finally when she entered open space she smiled and glanced around in awe like she always did every time she found herself there.

"Where in- -" She felt Loki stop right behind her and turned to give him a wide smile only to encounter his shock and awe expression.

Darcy turned to the cave again and closed her eyes and tried to erase the wonderful image of the cave from her mind and opened her eyes again and tried to see everything the same way Loki did.

The first thing her eyes registered was the light the cave's roof reflected from the water underneath or maybe the water reflected onto the roof, Darcy was never quite sure where the light came from but she knew it had to come from somewhere. The light, gold light she amended, reflected was making dancing lights move around the cave and Darcy bend down to ripple the still water and the lights starting dancing and she smiled at the crystal clear blue water and the coolness of it, so unlike the hotness from the desert.

It was small and smaller still the lagoon like structure inside the cave and Darcy wanted to scream to see what would happen.

"My family found it, we were walking around just looking because there wasn't anything to do that summer and my dad decided he wanted a road trip and we ended up here and we found this. I'm not sure if we're the only ones that know about it but I couldn't find it on the internet so I'm assuming it hasn't been discovered yet. I like to enjoy it before it is." She submerged her hand under the water and enjoyed the cool feel of it.

Loki didn't say much but she wasn't worried, he would say something when he was ready for it, instead she sat in front of the biggest rock that wasn't on the water and played with the water splashing it and watching the lights dance and play.

Loki joined her eventually, sitting down next her and making no noises but he put his fingertips to the water, almost hesitantly, before moving them softly and watching the barely moving lights shift in response of his manipulations.

"It reminds me of Asgard." He told her in a whisper but in the vast empty space it felt like a scream.

"How?" She didn't stop her motions and didn't look at him in fear of him clamping up on her.

"The lights, they shine gold." And indeed every single light within the cave moved with a tinted gold she found beautiful and impossible to recreate.

"Asgard…everything there is gold right?" She did look at him now only to find a blank look on his face but the wetness from his eyes wasn't from the water and she wonder how he kept his face so blank and his eyes so alive.

"Yes." Was his short, clipped answer and she winced at the harshness of it.

"I didn't mean for this to turn so…weird. I only wanted to show you Earth had its perks." She withdrew her hand from the water and sat back against the rock. She did feel somewhat awful because she hadn't meant to turn this little anger thing into a hurt thing for Loki, she didn't hate the guy, she only wanted him to understand where she came from and how Earth was worth living in.

"Water inside a hole? Yes, how would this be a perk?" He was hurt now and she sighed knowing she had lost him to another angry fit.

She set her eyes on him, he had stood up and was clenching his fists at his sides and staring at the water in hatred and she thought maybe it was time to cool him down a bit.

She stood up slowly and stood beside him, he didn't make a noise and he didn't turn to look at her and she took her chance and put her hands on his back, Loki had enough time to wave his arms around trying to look for something to hold on to before he had fallen in the water.

Darcy gave a squeak as the water jumped up when he went under and she wiped her face when water fell on her eyes. She waited for Loki to resurface and started to get worried when he didn't.

She stepped closer to the water and reached out a hand to the water, she wasn't sure what she was looking for, maybe movement inside the water? Something that would let her know she hadn't just killed Thor's brother?

She felt a strong grip and she only managed half a yell before she hit the water.

There was a few seconds of confusion as she struggle to swim back to surface but the weight she suddenly felt on her waist made her move up and she coughed when she hit the surface.

"What the fuck?"

Loki was laughing behind her, still holding on to her waist. She turned to yell at him only to be met with a laughing, smiling Loki, something she had never experienced before and she smiled right along with him.

"I must admit, that was quite ingenious." He let go of her waist and started throwing water at her.

"Well I thought you needed to cool down and I'm not afraid to play with fire." Maybe she shouldn't have said that because next thing she knew, her head was underwater again and Loki had both hands on her hand, keeping her there. There was a brief moment of panic where she actually thought he might kill her but the hands on her head were loose and she could have move if she wanted, her hands found his torso and she started picking at him hoping to find a tickling spot. Suddenly the hands on her head left and she emerged only to find Loki trying to swat her hands away, grin on his face.

"Oh my God, you're ticklish." She renewed her efforts to tickle him when he started flailing around, laughing and cursing her hands.

"Mortal, you do not know what you are dealing with." He said between giggles, trying and failing to sound menacing. Darcy laughed loudly at him and let go of him swimming away toward the end of the cave where the light shone from underneath the water.

Loki followed her, out of breath, and she took a moment to admire his face. She loved the way his already too long hair fell on his face and the little bit of his eyes she could see shined brightly thanks to the light, the greenness of them never dulled no matter what emotion Loki was feeling and god if she could touch and marry his cheekbones, she would.

Loki lost his smile and turned serious.

"I thank you for this." He didn't say anything more and he honestly didn't have to. Darcy knew he could never articulate a proper thank you, a detail thank you, because it just wasn't part of Loki. He was amazing with words, she had heard him talk his way of more tickets than she could count, but saying thank you seemed to escape his vocabulary.

She a little surprised when he put his hand on her waist and the other grabbed her opposite hand and he joined their bodies and then he started moving and she glanced at his face only to be met with a mischievous expression.

They were dancing and Darcy let out a small laugh because they were dancing in water.

She put her free on his shoulder and tried to move along with him, the movements were awkward and weird in the water but she moved her feet between a weird of combination of paddling and the waltz steps she had learned once upon a time when she was just a preteen in a grown up world.

They stayed like that for a long time trying to find the perfect mix between staying afloat and recreating respective dances from their opposite worlds. Darcy found that some of the moves didn't work, their feet would hit and fight with each other but other times they were both in unison, so in sync Darcy thought the dance might be the same. Darcy found they could find a balance between their different moves and not only stay afloat but also learned to forget they were in the water and not in a ballroom somewhere.

Eventually her muscles tired and she made a little sound of protest when Loki let her go but Loki looked a little tired too, there was a softness in his face she had never seen before though and so she didn't complain when Loki started guiding her back to the mouth of the cave.

Loki helped her leave the water and she laughed at how soaking wet they both were, Loki's blue shirt and jeans looked glued to him and she could already feel the material of her jeans starting to chafe.

She closed the gap between them and put her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. Loki responded in kind, putting his arms around her as well.

"I want to be your friend Loki, I want to be the person you can have in your corner. Because I know you miss home and your family and I do care about you, it's not pity and it's not sympathy, I want to be your friend because you had this amazing potential and I want you to explore it." His arms tightened around her briefly before he let her go.

She looked at his face and he grazed her with a small sincere smile and she gave him one in return. She didn't say many of the things she wanted to say because Loki was a fragile piece of glass and if she prodded too hard it would break far too easily but she hoped it was enough for now.

She gave him an awkward smile before walking towards the entrance of the cave, wanting to see the cave one more time she turned to let Loki go first but found instead Loki inspecting the cave one more time and they both watched slowly as the cave started to lose its light and turned darker, almost pitch black, almost as if the lights were turning off for them.

Loki gave the cave one final glanced before walking towards Darcy and because Loki's eyes were the thing that shined the most bright in the cave she grabbed onto his neck and lightly kissed both eyes tasting the saltiness there, Loki looked a little shock at her boldness but Darcy simply granted him with a smile and began the walk back.

Darcy started the van, still soaking wet but it was something she couldn't help and it had been beyond worth it so she wasn't scared of Jane's wrath, not when she had gotten Loki to laugh.

"Are we coming back?" Loki held himself the same way he had before they entered the cave, all annoyance and hostility. Darcy frowned and wonder if there would be two Lokis and two Darcys; the ones outside the cave and the ones inside of it.

"If you want to." She found the road again, the sun was beginning to set and the road was just as empty as when they first had gotten there.

She saw Loki pick up her iPod from the floor and she was a little surprise when he started playing her oldies play list with nothing else but rock music.

"That would be lovely…Darcy." She gave him a smile for finally saying her name and he gave her a smile and an eye roll at her sentimentality.

Darcy knew things wouldn't change drastically but Loki could change in time and maybe even get some of that innocence back in his eyes, an innocence she was more than sure had been taken away from him.

As the rolling stones sang about having sympathy for the devil, Darcy bobbed her head and swerved again making Loki laugh this time.

Back in the cave the small light inside the water started to pulse and hum in recognition of a friend.


End file.
